• A landmark event for the city, marking the second of five National Garden Festivals held in the UK between 1984 and 1992.

• Location: Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent

• Opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 1 May 1986

• Dates: 1 May – 26 October 1986

• Duration: 6 months

• Visitors: approx. 2 million

• The festival’s theme was "Art, Architecture and Landscape Design," featuring a heavy focus on public sculpture and floral displays

• Site Size: 180 acres (approx. 73 hectares) of reclaimed land 

• Former use: Shelton Bar Steelworks, blast furnaces and collieries

• Land condition: heavily contaminated, with mine workings and spoil tips

• Reclamation: £5 million was spent cleaning contaminated ground and mine shafts.

• Total Festival Cost: Estimates vary between £12.5 million and £18 million.

• Major features created:

  • Lakes and waterways

  • Woodland planting

  • Gardens and landscaped areas

• Years of preparation: early–mid 1980s

• Soil and land reclamation on a large scale

• Extensive landscaping and planting

• Infrastructure added:

  • Roads

  • Services

  • Visitor facilities

• The restoration of Josiah Wedgwood's home - Etruria Hall and its integration into a hotel complex

• The marina complex was developed as a key feature of the festival to integrate the city's industrial canal heritage with the new leisure landscape

• Trees and shrubs planted - As part of a community employment scheme, roughly 300,000 trees were planted on the site

• Creation of new woodland areas

• Design included both formal and naturalistic planting

Water Features: Water played a major role in the layout of the site - the existing Trent & Mersey canal with newly created marina, lakes and fountains.

Public Art: Approximately 120 works were created by over 100 artists, including notable figures like Antony Gormley and Vincent Woropay.

Gardens: There were 70 themed gardens, including sections for historic gardens, a labyrinth, and a woodland ridge.

Transport: Visitors navigated the site via a cable car and a miniature 24-inch gauge railway with five stations.

Events and Activities: Throughout the six months, the Festival hosted a wide range of events, performances, and exhibitions, ensuring that there was always something new to see.

• Site redeveloped as Festival Park.

• Mixed-use development including:

  • Retail

  • Leisure

  • Business premises 

• Retained features:

  • Lakes

  • Woodland

  • Pathways

  • Some sculptures

In 2026 Festival Park is a principal retail and leisure destinations in Stoke-on-Trent. While much has changed since 1986, elements of the original Festival can still be seen.

Surviving features include:

• Mature woodland planted during the Festival

• Lakes and waterways

• Footpaths and landscaping

• Sculptures and artistic features

These remnants provide a tangible link to the site’s transformation and continue to shape its character.

The marina complex serves as a major hub providing:

• Long-term and visitor moorings for narrow-boats on the Trent and Mersey Canal.

• Is adjacent to the Etruria Industrial Museum, which houses the historic Jesse Shirley's Bone and Flint Mill.

• A central point for the National Cycle Network, with a £1-million cycle path running along the bordering canal

• Regularly hosts the Etruria Canals Festival, usually held in June, which features working boats, stalls, and live music.

• Major example of industrial land regeneration

• Long-term impact on the image and economy of Stoke-on-Trent

"The construction of the Festival site has reclaimed from industrial dereliction 180 acres of land for the future benefit of the local community. 

The staging of the Festival itself will bring an injection of wealth into the area, together with work experience across a wide field for over 1,000 people. 

But through well-directed development, the site should then host even more permanent jobs and widen the industrial base of this historic city."

DAVID HANCOCK MBE., FBIM
Managing Director, NGF '86